Sea Breeze 2013 exercises begin in Odesa

The head of the exercises, Rear-Admiral of the Ukrainian Navy Denys Berezovsky, said at a press conference on Monday that the exercises would last until July 20.

The subject of the exercises is to hold an international operation on maritime safety and evacuate noncombatants. The exercises will be held in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, and they will involve servicemen from ten countries, in particular, Bulgaria, Italy, Canada, Germany, Romania, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Up to 1,700 military personnel, about 15 ships of various types, aircraft and armored vehicles will be involved in the maneuvers.

As reported, Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze exercises have been conducted since 1997 in line with the 1993 memorandum of understanding and cooperation in defense and military relations between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.